Silver Hake
Silver Hake
Merluccius bilinearis
Quick Facts
About the Species
There is little to no separation of silver hake and offshore hake in the market, and both are generally sold under the name “whiting.” The whiting fishery in the United States operates from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Along with red hake, whiting are part of the small-mesh multispecies fishery, which is managed primarily through a series of exemptions from the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (or groundfish fishery). The directed commercial fishery is conducted with small-mesh trawl gear with a number of specific requirements to reduce bycatch of larger groundfish species. There are two stocks of silver hake (northern and southern), and one stock of offshore hake, which primarily co-occurs with the southern stock of silver hake. The market for small-mesh multispecies is human consumption and as bait. U.S. wild-caught whiting is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations. Implementing regulations are found at 50 CFR part 648 subpart F.
Population
The stocks are not overfished.
Fishing Rate
Not subject to overfishing.
Habitat Impact
Fishing gears used to harvest silver hake have minimal impacts on habitat.
Bycatch
Raised-footrope trawls are required in designated areas when targeting hake to minimize bycatch of other species.
Population Status
- There are two stocks of silver hake: the Gulf of Maine/Northern Georges Bank stock and the Southern Georges Bank/Mid-Atlantic stock. According to the most recent stock assessments:
- The Gulf of Maine/Northern Georges Bank stock is not overfished and not subject to overfishing (2023 stock assessment). Summary stock assessment information can be found on Stock SMART.
- The Southern Georges Bank/Mid-Atlantic stock is not overfished and not subject to overfishing (2023 stock assessment). Summary stock assessment information can be found on Stock SMART.
Appearance
- Silver hake are silvery in color, brownish on the back and whitish on the belly, with black speckles on the back and black inside the mouth.
- They have large heads for their size and sharp teeth.
- They have long pectoral fins and are fast swimmers.
Biology
- Female silver hake are serial spawners, producing and releasing up to three batches of eggs in a single spawning season.
- Spawning areas include the coastal region of the Gulf of Maine from Cape Cod to Grand Manan Island, southern and southeastern Georges Bank, and the southern New England area south of Martha’s Vineyard.
- Their peak spawning occurs earlier in the south (May to June) than in the north (July to August).
- More than half of 2-year-old silver hake and virtually all 3-year-olds are sexually mature.
- Silver hake can live as long as 14 years, although few fish older than age 6 have been observed in U.S. waters in recent years.
- They can grow to be more than 28 inches long and up to 5 pounds.
- Silver hake are important to the northwest Atlantic ecosystem both as prey and predators.
- They are voracious predators and feed on fish, crustaceans, and squid.
Where They Live
Range
- Silver hake are found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and range primarily from Newfoundland to South Carolina.
Habitat
- In U.S. waters, two stocks have been identified. The northern stock of silver hake inhabits the waters of the Gulf of Maine and Northern Georges Bank, and the southern stock inhabits the waters of Southern Georges Bank and the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
- As nocturnal, semi-pelagic predators, silver hake move up in the water column to feed at night, primarily between dusk and midnight. They return to rest on the ocean bottom during the day, preferring sandy, muddy, or pebbly ocean bottoms.
- Silver hake migrate in response to seasonal changes in water temperatures, moving toward shallow, warmer waters in the spring.
- They spawn in these shallow waters during late spring and early summer and then return to deeper waters in the autumn.
- Older, larger silver hake prefer deeper waters.
- During the summer, portions of both stocks can be found on Georges Bank.
- During the winter, fish in the northern stock move to deep basins in the Gulf of Maine, while fish in the southern stock move to outer continental shelf and slope waters.
- Silver hake are widely distributed, and have been observed at temperature ranges of 2 to 17° C (36 to 63° F) and depth ranges of 11 to 500 meters (36 to 1,640 feet). However, they are most commonly found in temperatures between 7 and 10° C (45 to 50° F).
Fishery Management
- NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council manage the silver hake fishery.
- Silver hake are managed and assessed as two stocks: The Gulf of Maine and Northern Georges Bank (northern stock) and the Southern Georges Bank and Mid-Atlantic (southern stock). The southern stock includes southern silver hake and offshore hake.
- Managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan for Small Mesh Multispecies:
- Permitting requirements.
- A cap on the amount of groundfish bycatch that fishing vessels can take.
- Seasonal and spatial limitations throughout the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank on fishing with small mesh.
- Trip limits by mesh size and area.
- In-season trip limit reductions and catch monitoring help prevent excessive catches.
- The small-mesh multispecies fishery is managed primarily through a series of exemptions from the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Exempted fisheries allow vessels to fish for specific species, such as silver hake, in designated areas using mesh sizes smaller than the minimum mesh size allowed under the Regulated Mesh Area regulations.
Harvest
- Commercial fishery:
- In 2023, commercial landings of silver hake totaled 9.8 million pounds and were valued at $11.3 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
- Silver hake is part of the small-mesh multispecies management unit, along with red hake and offshore hake, which are collectively referred to as “whiting."
- The small-mesh multispecies fishery in the United States operates from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
- Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
- Fishermen using small-mesh trawl gear to catch silver hake must comply with a number of specific requirements to reduce bycatch of larger groundfish species.
- In designated areas, fishermen are required to use raised-footrope trawls, which are designed to keep the net off the bottom to reduce bycatch of flatfish and other species.
- Discard rates for silver hake are relatively low (10% of the northern silver hake landings and 21% of the southern whiting and offshore hake landings).
- Approximately 60 percent of the red hake caught as bycatch in the whiting fishery are discarded.
- Recreational fishery:
- Recreational fishermen do not target silver hake but sometimes catch them incidentally while fishing for other groundfish.
- There are currently no restrictions on recreational possession, size, or gear type for silver hake caught recreationally in federal waters.
- There are no specific areas for the recreational fishery.
Scientific Classification
- Silver hake are found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and range primarily from Newfoundland to South Carolina.
- In U.S. waters, two stocks have been identified. The northern stock of silver hake inhabits the waters of the Gulf of Maine and Northern Georges Bank, and the southern stock inhabits the waters of Southern Georges Bank and the Mid-Atlantic Bight.
- As nocturnal, semi-pelagic predators, silver hake move up in the water column to feed at night, primarily between dusk and midnight. They return to rest on the ocean bottom during the day, preferring sandy, muddy, or pebbly ocean bottoms.
- Silver hake migrate in response to seasonal changes in water temperatures, moving toward shallow, warmer waters in the spring.
- They spawn in these shallow waters during late spring and early summer and then return to deeper waters in the autumn.
- Older, larger silver hake prefer deeper waters.
- During the summer, portions of both stocks can be found on Georges Bank.
- During the winter, fish in the northern stock move to deep basins in the Gulf of Maine, while fish in the southern stock move to outer continental shelf and slope waters.
- Silver hake are widely distributed, and have been observed at temperature ranges of 2 to 17° C (36 to 63° F) and depth ranges of 11 to 500 meters (36 to 1,640 feet). However, they are most commonly found in temperatures between 7 and 10° C (45 to 50° F).
Fishery Management
- NOAA Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council manage the silver hake fishery.
- Silver hake are managed and assessed as two stocks: The Gulf of Maine and Northern Georges Bank (northern stock) and the Southern Georges Bank and Mid-Atlantic (southern stock). The southern stock includes southern silver hake and offshore hake.
- Managed under the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan for Small Mesh Multispecies:
- Permitting requirements.
- A cap on the amount of groundfish bycatch that fishing vessels can take.
- Seasonal and spatial limitations throughout the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank on fishing with small mesh.
- Trip limits by mesh size and area.
- In-season trip limit reductions and catch monitoring help prevent excessive catches.
- The small-mesh multispecies fishery is managed primarily through a series of exemptions from the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan. Exempted fisheries allow vessels to fish for specific species, such as silver hake, in designated areas using mesh sizes smaller than the minimum mesh size allowed under the Regulated Mesh Area regulations.
Harvest
- Commercial fishery:
- In 2023, commercial landings of silver hake totaled 9.8 million pounds and were valued at $11.3 million, according to the NOAA Fisheries commercial fishing landings database.
- Silver hake is part of the small-mesh multispecies management unit, along with red hake and offshore hake, which are collectively referred to as “whiting."
- The small-mesh multispecies fishery in the United States operates from Maine to Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.
- Gear types, habitat impacts, and bycatch:
- Fishermen using small-mesh trawl gear to catch silver hake must comply with a number of specific requirements to reduce bycatch of larger groundfish species.
- In designated areas, fishermen are required to use raised-footrope trawls, which are designed to keep the net off the bottom to reduce bycatch of flatfish and other species.
- Discard rates for silver hake are relatively low (10% of the northern silver hake landings and 21% of the southern whiting and offshore hake landings).
- Approximately 60 percent of the red hake caught as bycatch in the whiting fishery are discarded.
- Recreational fishery:
- Recreational fishermen do not target silver hake but sometimes catch them incidentally while fishing for other groundfish.
- There are currently no restrictions on recreational possession, size, or gear type for silver hake caught recreationally in federal waters.
- There are no specific areas for the recreational fishery.
Scientific Classification
| Kingdom | Animalia | Phylum | Chordata | Class | Actinopterygii | Order | Gadiformes | Family | Merlucciidae | Genus | Merluccius | Species | bilinearis |
|---|
Related Species
Seafood Facts
Is Silver Hake Sustainable?
U.S. wild-caught silver hake is a smart seafood choice because it is sustainably managed and responsibly harvested under U.S. regulations.
Availability
Year-round.
Source
U.S. wild-caught from Maine to South Carolina.
Taste
Mild and slightly sweet.
Texture
Hakes have softer flesh and are less flaky than other whitefish such as cod, haddock, and pollock.
Color
Raw and cooked hake is white to off-white.
Health Benefits
Silver hake is a good source of selenium, vitamin B, magnesium, and protein.
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1; Serving Weight: 100 g (raw); Calories: 90 ; Protein: 18.31 g; Total Fat: 1.31 g; Total Saturated Fatty Acids: 0.247 g; Carbohydrate: 0 g; Total Sugars: 0 g; Total Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Cholesterol: 67 mg; Selenium: 32.1 mcg; Sodium: 72 mgSeafood News
NOAA Fisheries, in collaboration with Blue Ocean Mariculture, is conducting a multi-year pilot study to evaluate observational methods and tools for studying Hawaiian monk seal behavior. Courtesy of Blue Ocean Mariculture
Tonya Wick aboard a fishing vessel at sea in 1998. Photo courtesy of Tonya Wick
Fish on display at the market. Credit: Shutterstock
Fishermen offloading. Credit: Shutterstock
Exempted Fishing
What is an Exempted Fishery?
Exempted fisheries allow vessels to fish for specific species without being subject to certain northeast (NE) multispecies regulations, including days-at-sea, provided the bycatch of regulated species is minimal. To be approved and implemented, exemption programs must have demonstrated that incidental catch of NE multispecies is less than five percent of the total catch, by weight, and that the exemption will not jeopardize fishing mortality objectives.
Small-Mesh Multispecies Fishery Exemptions
The small-mesh multispecies (whiting) fishery is primarily managed under a series of fishery exemptions to the NE Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP). As a result, the majority of the fishery (specific possession limits, gear restrictions, and other management measures) is determined by the exemption area or regulated mesh area being fished.
Within the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and Georges Bank (GB) Regulated Mesh Areas (RMA) there are five specific exempted fishing areas for small-mesh multispecies/whiting (see map at the bottom of the page), and whiting may be harvested throughout the entire Southern New England (SNE) and Mid-Atlantic (MA) RMAs, under specific requirements.
More specific details for each area can be found on the linked pages within the table below. A Letter of Authorization (LOA) is required to participate in some of these exempted fishing areas. LOAs can be obtained from our Permits Office at (978) 282-8438, or online by visiting our permits site.
Small-Mesh Multispecies Exemption Areas
| Area Name | Season | LOA Reqiuired? |
|---|---|---|
| GOM Grate Raised Footrope Trawl Whiting Fishery Exemption Area | July 1 - November 30 | No |
| Cultivator Shoal Whiting Fishery Exemption Area | June 15 - October 31 | Yes |
| Small Mesh Areas 1 & 2 | SMA 1: July 15 - November 15 SMA 2: January 1 - June 30 | No |
| Raised Footrope Trawl Exempted Whiting Fishery Areas (Cape Cod) | September 1 - November 20 / December 31 | Yes |
| SNE Exemption Area | Year round | No |
| Mid-Atlantic Exemption Area | Year round | No |
Note: Whiting (combined silver hake and offshore hake) are also allowed as bycatch in the Northern Shrimp Fishery up to an amount equal to the weight of shrimp on board, not to exceed 3,500 pounds. Whiting on board a vessel subject to this possession limit must be separated from other species of fish and stored so as to be readily available for inspection.
Management Overview
The small-mesh multispecies fishery is managed by the New England Fishery Management Council, with NOAA Fisheries serving as the implementing body for rules and regulations within the fishery.
The fishery is managed as five stocks of three species of hakes: Northern silver hake, southern silver hake, northern red hake, southern red hake, and offshore hake. Silver hake and offshore hake are often grouped together and collectively referred to as "whiting."
The fishing year runs from May 1 through April 30; however, because this fishery primarily operates through exemptions from the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan, the timing of most targeted fishing is highly dependent upon the seasons of specific exemption areas. Specific possession limits, gear restrictions, and other management measures are also often determined by the exemption area or regulated mesh area being fished.
The northern hake stocks are found within the Gulf of Maine (GOM) and northern Georges Bank (GB) regulated mesh areas (RMA), and the southern stocks are within the southern GB, southern New England (SNE) and Mid-Atlantic (MA) RMAs. For more information on exempted fishing areas, visit the Exempted Fishing tab on this page.
Control Date for the Small-Mesh Multispecies Fishery: November 28, 2012.
Management Plans
Specifications/Quotas
The Small-Mesh Multispecies Fishery Management Plan (FMP) requires the annual specification of catch and harvest limits for up to three years at a time. If specifications are not in place at the start of the fishing year, the existing specifications roll over until new regulations are finalized.
Current Whiting Specifications (May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020)
| Stock | Northern Silver Hake | Southern Whiting* |
|---|---|---|
| Overfishing Limit (OFL) | 58,350 mt | 31,180 mt |
| Acceptable Biological Catch (ABC) | 31,030 mt | 19,395 mt |
| Annual Catch Limit (ACL) | 29,475 mt | 18,425 mt |
| Total Allowable Landings (TAL) | 26,604 mt | 14,465 mt |
*Note: Southern Whiting = Southern Silver Hake + Offshore Hake. There is not enough scientific information to produce catch limits for offshore hake, which are most often landed mixed with southern silver hake. Therefore, the southern silver hake ABC is increased by four percent to account for offshore hake.
Inseason Actions
If 90 percent of either the northern silver hake or southern whiting TALs is projected to be reached or exceeded, the possession limit of that stock will be reduced to the incidental level of 2,000 lb per trip for the remainder of the fishing year.
Accountability Measures (AM)
If a small-mesh multispecies ACL is exceeded in a given fishing year, the inseason accountability measure adjustment trigger for that stock will be reduced in subsequent fishing years by one percent for each one percent by which the ACL was exceeded.
For example: If the inseason adjustment trigger is 90 percent, and the ACL is exceeded by 5 percent, the adjustment trigger for the stock whose ACL was exceeded would be reduced to 85 percent for subsequent fishing years.
Regulatory History
- 1987 – Amendment 1 decreased the area for the whiting exempted fishery, and made several other changes to the NE multispecies fishery.
- 1991 – Amendment 4 incorporated silver hake and red hake into the NE Multispecies FMP, and established the Cultivator Shoals Experimental Whiting Fishery.
- 1994 – Framework Adjustment 6 aimed to reduce catch of juvenile whiting in Cultivator Shoals by increasing the minimum mesh size from 2.5” to 3” for that area.
- 1995 – Framework Adjustment 9 established Small-Mesh Areas 1 and 2 and their seasons.
- 1996 – Amendment 7 established additional bycatch species in Cultivator Shoals Exemption Area, as well as many other catch limits and management measures within the NE Multispecies FMP.
- 2000 – Amendment 12 established essential fish habitat (EFH) designations, differential possession limits based on mesh size, a transfer-at-sea provision, year 4 default measures, and included offshore hake into the NE Multispecies FMP.
- 2000 – Framework Adjustment 32 modified the whiting mesh size/possession limit enrollment program and allowed the use of a net strengthener.
- 2000 – Framework Adjustment 35 established the Cape Cod Bay Raised Footrope Trawl area and season.
- 2002 – Modifications to Amendment 12 delayed year 4 default measures.
- 2002 – Modification to Framework 35 modified boundaries and season of Cape Cod Bay Raised Footrope Trawl Area, added another area East of Cape Cod, and adjusted area seasons.
- 2003 – Framework Adjustment 37 eliminated the year 4 default measures, adjusted area seasons, possession limits and species allowed for retention, and clarified the transfer-at-sea provisions.
- 2003 – Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking established new small-mesh multispecies control date of March 25, 2003.
- 2003 – Framework Adjustment 38 established Inshore GOM Whiting Exemption Area, required grate raised footrope trawl, and adjusted area possession limits, species for retention, and seasons.
- 2006 – Amendment 14 scoping measures included for consideration included: Limited entry for commercial vessels, hard total allowable catch (TAC), dedicated access privileges, and recreational measures.
- 2006 – Advanced notice of proposed rulemaking reaffirmed March 25, 2003, control date.
- 2012 – Secretarial Amendment to establish annual catch limits and accountability measures for the small-mesh multispecies fishery.
- 2013 – Amendment 19 modified management measures in the small-mesh multispecies fishery; including the accountability measures, the year-round possession limits, and total allowable landings process.
Science Overview
NOAA Fisheries conducts various research activities on the biology, behavior, and population health of silver hake. The results of this research are used to inform management decisions for this species.
For detailed information about stock status, management, assessments, and resource trends, you can search for silver hake, and any other species of interest, using NOAA’s StockSMART web tool.
